KARACHI: The Government of Pakistan has decided to include transgender community in the “Benazir Kifalat” programme for the first time.

This decision was made during the 56th Board of Directors meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety and BISP Chairperson Shazia Atta Marri. In a video statement issued on Saturday, Marri announced the inclusion of transgender persons as beneficiaries of the Benazir Kafalat Programme. Terming the approval of the transgender policy as a “landmark achievement”, Marri said that the transgender community is the part of the society, adding that it was the government’s responsibility to facilitate them.

She told that Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had started to mobilize transgender community to get their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) as per their gender and to visit nearby BISP Tehseel Center for registration in the Kafalat Programme. “After successful registration, the applicant transgender will get Rs7,000 quarterly,” she added.